Monday, February 12, 2018

SHUBH MAHASHIVARATRI!

Tomorrow is Mahashivaratri, one of my favorite celebrations in the Hindu calendar. In February we celebrate Shivaratri on the 13th night of the month. This being "maha" Shivaratri, the potential of each prayer, each blessing is multiplied by a thousand; keep your sankalpa fixed on the Lord within and without.

We honor Lord Shiva for his will to create, his compassion to destroy (our ignorance), and his loving grace, amongst many other characteristics of Mahadeva. In honoring Lord Shiva we also honor Shakti, the creative energy-- pure consciousness, that enables us to see and be a part of Shiva's dance.

Friday, January 20, 2017

INAUGURATION DAY: TURN OFF THE TV AND TUNE INTO THE HEART WITH JAI BHAKTI™

In response to the level of anxiety friends and family members are experiencing during the transition from President Obama to our new President-Elect, I invite you to turn off your TV today and Tune into the bandwidth of your Heart.

I invite you to join me for meditation and prayer starting at noon (EST). This is a global event: folks from all over the world have responded to my plea to send out peace and love during these divisive times. I will be holding the place of the Heart for us.

You can find the free meditation instructions I posted on JAI BHAKTI™ back in 2005 here:In response to the level of anxiety friends and family members are experiencing during the transition from President Obama to our new President-Elect, I invite you to turn off your TV today and Tune into the bandwidth of your Heart.

I invite you to join me for meditation and prayer starting at noon (EST). This is a global event: folks from all over the world have responded to my plea to send out peace and love during these divisive times. I will be holding the place of the Heart for us.

You can find the free meditation instructions I posted on JAI BHAKTI™ back in 2005 by clicking here .

Let us not be wary. Let us share the peace and love of our Hearts on this day and always. It's what the world needs now.

Whether you meditate, pray, chant/sing, or study sacred yogic texts ("unity) for one minute or for hours today, every second of peacefull Heart you send out will have a profound affect on yourself and the world.

Namo Namah,

Bhakti

(Donna Lynn Brophy)

Thank you to everyone on Facebook, and Twitter (especially Betty Buckley) for sharing this JAI BHAKTI™ offering with your Friends and Followers.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

DONNA LYNN BROPHY SPINAL DISEASES FUNDRAISER!

Please help Donna (aka Bhakti) get the spinal surgery she needs in NYC.

“We can find inspiration in various walks of life. Whenever we see someone rising above their limitations, having the courage to continue to not only be creative in the face of great adversity, but also to excel, these people raise the bar for all of us and seeing them continue to find a way can be tremendously inspiring. Donna is just one of those people. Her passion for music and the guitar has given her the courage and strength to rise above tremendous limitation. And this is how one can change the world for the better. By being an excellent example. You go sister!” - Steve Vai*Guitar Virtuoso (Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, PIL, Whitesnake)*Four time Grammy Award Winner
*Symphonic Composer

Donna Lynn Brophy (aka Bhakti) was hit by a car in 1997, resulting in multiple surgeries, including cervical spinal reconstruction in 2005. Living with spinal cord nerve root injuries and four incurable spinal diseases causes Donna severe chronic pain and has left her virtually bedridden and 100% disabled.

Donna’s insurance no longer covers the cost of her disability and care. Therefore, her family has set up a SUPPLEMENTAL NEEDS TRUST to help provide all the costs that insurance and governmental benefits deny. This Trust will make it possible for her to have cutting edge surgery in NYC. These costs are significant, costing tens of thousands of dollars each year.
Please help Donna maintain her current level of care and quality of life.

Monday, October 26, 2015

JAI BHAKTI™ Blog: Tapas, Trust, And Grace

I went through a period of profound purification caused by tapas (spiritual austerities) the past two months.

While we go through this heavy, dark period of angst and depression,

the mind is not fickle about helping us forget that the purifying aspects of tapas is not only a part of the

spiritual journey,

but an essential clearing out of samskaras--old habits/tendencies etched in the fabric

of our subconscious minds.

In the midst of this round of purification,

the elephant I was wrestling in the dark was unadulterated fear.

Fear, in any form, always comes back to fear of death. Always.

For me, it was not so much my own mortality I was fearing. I made peace with

my mortality years ago. I would have to in order to navigate my way through life

with these spinal cord injuries and severe nerve pain.

A decade ago I used to say I had no fear of death,

I only had fear of living the rest of my life

in this hellish pain.

I was not wrestling with fear of my own death, it was more a fear of those around me dying.

Not being physically able to care for myself compounded the angst. (It's not surprising to me that dealing with unadulterated fear was at the center of my tapasya. In the past ten months, 13 friends and family members have died. Yama's been a busy god of death in my area as of late.)

It's not that we forget that the Self/God dwells within the Heart Center,

we simply cannot access this sanctuary freely. Our mind helps us forget the portals of entry, be it chanting, meditating, practicing hatha, kriya, or jnana yoga. We don't feel it's innate pull, the longing to get back. This causes more angst, and, as mentioned above,

the mind is not going to remind you how to access the Self within.

Ha! No.

The ego enjoys dragging us back down

to its state of ignorance.

It's at this time that some lose faith;

they feel forsaken.

It's at this time we must Trust.

If God, in the form of Pure Consciousness,

has created everything, everywhere,

how could God ever leave?

Where could he go that he is not already?

If God is everywhere,

within everything,

He cannot leave.

Hence, there is no "finding" God/The Self within and without,

only discovering and remembrance of That which always was present, even if we weren't.

Once we realize that our angst, depression, and heaviness of Heart

is a causal effect of tapas--

once we remember what we forgot (that we are the Self within),

we sometimes get angry at God for hiding His presence from us.

This is a good time to contemplate the word grace.

The Nataraj, the murti (sculpture) of Lord Shiva dancing while

crushing the ego under foot,

has a five-fold function,

one of them being the ability to veil Himself from us, and

another being the giver of grace that enables us to experience Him again.

At the moment we remember the Self within--

that glorious energy center within that sages, seers, and mystic poets

have aptly coined the ocean of bliss,

that is when we bow our heads below our Hearts

and say thank you. Thank you for taking us back to ourSelves.

As the residual ash of tapas disappears,

we find ourselves back in union with our true nature.

I experienced this today in the form of crying tears of joy

45 minutes into meditation.

I Witnessed myself not as my body,

but as the one who knows I have a body.

Not as the one who is in pain,

but as the one who knows I experience pain.

I became The Witness, experiencing pure awareness.

Jesus revealed Himself in my Heart Center,

along with Hanuman, Krshna, Bade Baba Nityananada, Baba Muktananda, Swami Chidvilasananda Paramahansa; all of the great bhaktas were dancing within,